Towards the end, this post contains excessive violence.
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"Greetings, Heiji. My name is Akataka. Here, we accept all who wander."
"So, you come back with your tail between legs. Your mother was worried sick, you know. Now you wish for money. What you need is discipline!
"My son in Christ. Do not fear for my sake. It will only be for a few weeks. I will return and see you again"
"These are not good scores, Mr. Tarō."
"It's okay Heiji."
"How could you, Heiji?"
"You are a disgrace to the Tarō clan."
"Welcome to your new life, Heiji.'
"Are you ready, Kuroshiro?"
太郎 平次
黒白
There he was, animation suspended. An ebon shade of red took his whole body as he watched into an abyss of contorted shadow. His katana was splayed out in front of him, the only thing that existed in this plane. He willed a reach, to grab the sword but in an instant it vanished, a gunshot heard off in the distance.
The sword was replaced by a little girl with chopped hair and a simple dress. She couldn't have been more than two years old. She looked at him with eyes dead red. A chill ran up his spine as the little girl, half sunken eyelids, began to force a frown. She was obviously mad at him but for what...
The girl dropped her head as if she had been hung ...
"Why?" she asked in a twenty something voice.
"Why did you save me?"
"My life was over when I was born."
"My fragile existance is all thanks to you."
"I want to sleep. I want to die. I want all this to go away."
She looked up again.
Her face contorted, her eyes contracted, her face white. She was a pale ghost; a shade of herself; the antithesis of an innocent girl.
"But you wouldn't let that happen."
The sounds quieted. Not a sound. Not. A.
"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, KUROSHIRO!"
The dream went black with a slam of a warehouse door.
黒白
Kuroshiro awoke with a sucked breath. His heart raced with every second. Slowly with long, drawn out breaths, he calmed himself.
Again, he was in the mansion and it was nighttime. He had just experienced a nightmare. This was a frightening moment because there was a problem if a spirit dreamt. The energy in the surrounding area had been disrupted and would need to be righted.
Kuroshiro grabbed his sword when he heard a scrounging for the kitchen, He began to draw Yurokibō as he saw the light on. Half drawn, he positioned in a Yamanakosougi, ensuring his first cut would be to the weak midsection. His feet planted and knees at the bend, he squinted in the light of the refrigerator. He was about to slash when the scrounger made his appearance known. Perhaps he was more afraid of Kuroshiro because of the quick yelp the thing gave. Perhaps it was the half unsheathed katana.
"Dude! You scared me. I thought you were going to cut me up, man!"
"So was I, peru-seno-ri."
The person in front of him looked maturer than Kuroshiro's eighteen year-old body. He may have been roughly twenty-five by appearances but with the string of older/younger lookers, the spirit couldn't tell what his age was.
The man kept shifting as if to hide a secret. In his fear, however, he was able to socialize and struck up a conversation with Kuroshiro. He introduced himself as Ace Garcia, a fennec fox/human hybrid who had joined the club in the course of the past two days. Kuroshiro gave his traditional spiel but, for some reason, left off his gang involvement. Though Ace nodded along, his mind was clearly in another place; arms folded and damp, gazed look.
In the midst of talking, Ace blurted out, "Listen, I know this seems weird, but do you know where they keep the booze?"
"Ekuske-yusu me?"
"I'ts been a while and need a drink. Know any place?"
"They don't have alcohol in the mansion. Not since a couple days ago, at least."
"Damn. It's been a while since I've had a stiff one. You wouldn't happen to know any clubs in town?"
"Well, there's a place called the Gu-rei Duck. But it's not exactly a club, more of a bar."
Ace shook his head. "Doesn't sound like my kind of place. I don't need a bartender grilling me on my life story."
Kuroshiro looked with slight intent. "Trust me when i say everyone in the mansion has some sort of pain. You're not alone if that respect. Also, it's illogical that you would want to avoid people when what you need to do is talk it out."
The fennec shifted his head upwards. "What are you, my therapist? I don't need any help. What I need is a drink."
"Inu-turesu-ting." Kuroshiro was slowly picking the pages apart in the shut book that was Ace, bit by bit. All those years counciling the dead were paying off here. Soon, he would figure it all out. Sweat was now forming beads on the human hybrid.
Time to dig in to this fidgety wreck. "Tell me. How old do you think I am?"
Here, Ace bristled his ears. "Uhm...well...you look like you could be a younger brother. Maybe seventeen or something."
"Try again, Ace. I'm actually thirty-eight, thank to the afata-rifu. By all intents and purposes, and by your appearance, I'm teku-naku-ri older than you. The question that remains is how old."
"Kuroshiro, was it? I don't know who you are but all I want is a drink. So you know what? Screw it. I'm going into town and I'm going to the Grey Duck."
"At midnight?"
"You don't..."
Kuroshiro held his hand up. He had sensed earlier that disruption but, no thanks to Ace, had been lured into a false sense of stability.
The fennec looked on with confusion. "Are you listening."
"Shh."
The spirit silently clasped the tsuka and began to draw it. Walking ever so slightly, he looked for some sort of source for the energy disruption. The slight vibrations in the are told the disruption was upstairs.
Where the others were sleeping.
黒白
He turned towards Ace. "There's something in the house. I'm going to check it out. Whatever you do, I'm going to ask you to sit this one out."
Ace clearly didn't take kindly to this. "Wait, wait, wait. I'm convinced I've been in more barfights than you. Probably more times than you've used your ghosts powers to sneak into a girl's locker room."
"I'll have you know I'm a Catholic and in peru-gatori. I kind of want to get to heaven and perving doesn't help me."
"So, that doesn't happen on a regular basis in Japan?"
"Japan's a bit more than a living, ba-riizing ecchi, thank you very much. Also, I'm sure... why am I defending my country's honor when there is a thing upstairs that could kill something?"
"Well, then, what's the plan, Kemosabe?"
"That's not even Japanese!"
The force grew stronger with the drones of one past the witching hour. Kuroshiro could no longer stand by. He dashed towards the grand staircase with Ace in tow.
Reaching the second floor landing, they both stopped with utmost urgency. Kuroshiro drew his katana and Ace raised his fists. A lot of good that'll do you, kitsune-boy.
With the delicacy of a light wind, Kuroshiro ascended from the ground. From a height he would be able to survey every blind spot.
Ace obviously didn't get the memo that ghosts can fly as he was completely taken aback. "HOW DID-"
The spirit's whiplash of a fiery stare said everything it needed to. Kindly shut up. If the disturbance heard them within a certain circumference, it could detect them and attack without warning. Thus, Kuroshiro kept flying with utmost silence while Ace had to deal with light stepping.
The halls seemed corpse-like, no one stirring near them, not a moment of life. With everyone in bed, the disturbance grew more powerful, beginning to vibrate the air with anticipation. It had been a while, not since many years, that Kuroshiro had to fight an opponent of this magnitude. The erlkonig from weeks earlier seemed like an insult to his power compared to the fear and dread that grew within his heart. all the time, his head was down, scanning for any movement. Ace seemed to be holding his own. Kuroshiro turned to look down on his companion.
He wasn't there.
A shriek pierced the night.
The curtains flew together, guarding the hallway against the moon.
The lights flickered out one by one by one, growing ever closer, building towards him.
A flush of wind danced across his cheek, snuffing the remainder of the lights.
In the chill of the summer night, all he heard was his stammering breathing and his beating heart. The darkness was absolute, much like the dream he experienced. He was at the mercy of the beast.
Left
Right
Left
Up
Down
Outside
Left again
Nothing
He turned around
That's when he saw the face flying at him, needled eyes and sharp black hair, flying in chaotic fashion.
The scream emitting from the being was piercing and reached into his ears with an explosive force, crumpling him to the floor. He looked again into the eyes of his tormentor who rose above him.
Kuroshiro couldn't let this phase him. He went to stand but the creature assaulted him even further, this time by mind. All his thoughts were converted to terrible ideas.
殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄 殺す 創痕 台無し 痛み 死 煩悶 止める 地獄
All he could think was the desolation that followed his life, all the pain that he experienced since that dark night. He slumped to the ground, clutching Yorukibō. With a slight raise of his head, he looked at the being. He choked and spat out a word. "Who?"
何者
"You speak Japanese?"
あなたが日本語を話す？
The creature threw these words into his mind. It was indeed a Japanese spirit. He had to revert to his origin language, which gave him more confidence in speech.
"Creature of the night and of the East, my name is Kuroshiro. I grew up in Tokyo and died in it's Hibiya. For nineteen years, I have protected the spirits of the dead from unfair judgement and the anchors of Earth. Before this fight may truly commence, I must ask who you are."
The voice dripped with venomous coated steel. "Kuroshiro. I have heard of you. Your renown is well recorded throughout the world of the dead in Asia. The given name of burakko-waito. Solid. Strange. It fits you well. Very well. My given name is Norowa, the cursed yureī. My master has given me strict orders to see your group in action.
"You do not disappoint. Normal people do not fall so easily. They often commit suicide when I invade their mind. I wonder what the other members are like. I hear there are two twin bakru children. I do love dealing with little ones. Then there's that matter of the kemonomimi. My master has several reasons for me to keep her alive. That doesn't mean I can't have a bit of fun with her.
"And then there's the werewolf. She's a fiery one, I'll say. Maybe I'll keep her personally. From what I hear you're nothing but a lovestruck idiot."
Yorukibō dashed into his space of breathing. Leaping with an aggressive two-handed prime third stance, Kuroshiro became an animal bent on revenge. Dodging the tendrils of shadow, he forced the blade into the tendrils of Norowa. His eyes as needle-fine as the yureī. His teeth as gnashed as a predator. Norowa backed off slowly. "So you do care for the werewolf. I can honestly believe that."
"You...you wouldn't...understand the nature of my circumstances."
It wasn't drawn out, it wasn't quiet at first. The psychopathic laugh came immediately and filled the halls with blackness.
"You and-I wouldn't-HAHAHA!!! You and I are more connected than you think, psychopomp. We both died under forceful circumstances, we both have darkness in our veins, we both want to die so very much. I know more about you than yourself. If I may be so crass, i'd say we are in fact similar in every way sans alignment. Just keep telling yourself that everyone here trusts you. In the end, you will with evil at your throat and regret upon your lips."
Kuroshiro swung his katana again, but in his inebriated state did not foresee a single tendril come out of the darkness. It smacked the blade from his hands, twanging against the soft hallway carpet.
"And now, Kuroshiro, I must end this. Your execution will please my master. Pray to the God you so clasp to. You shall meet him in-"
BANG
A gunshot silenced the yureī. The blossoming purple blood came the wound that affected his chest. In his hand, Kuroshiro held the service revolver that guarded him in his darkest hour. In life, it was the reason of his death. In death, it was the reason of his life. A single round was all that exited the barrel. With this, Norowa gave a shrill of pain and descended to the floor. With a gasp, he coughed blood with his words. "Ugh...that was..a cheap move..."
Kuroshiro stood up and proceeded to bow his head in reverence for his opponent, the errant soul that he was. Only to hear an even shriller cry as Norowa gave his final push.
The barrel slingshot into the space between them. Kuroshiro screamed at the top of his lungs, "あなた怪物！私あなたを殺すでしょう！死ぬ！死ぬ！死ぬ！DIE！"
The chamber was emptied into the body of Norowa. His body and his face were coated in the slick purple blood. With a final gasp, he fell to the floor, a killed spirit.
The resounding explosions had finally reached the ears of Kuroshiro. He looked at the bullet riddled body and was disgusted by his actions. Couldn't he have just killed him with the katana?
He stared at the gun and it all came rushing back.
"Boss, what do you want me to do with him?"
"He isn't talking. You know what to do."
"No. Please. Have mercy."
"Kuroshiro, are you alright?"
He looked up. Norowa had disappeared. Ace was behind him with a hand on his shoulder. The others had been woken up by the noise. Only to Kuroshiro faint at the sight of what he had done.
黒白
"Dr.
